The Gods' Gifts
by Dark Dream Stalker
Summary: What would happen if Kel wasn't the only girl at the palace? This takes place at the beginning of Page and will have a lot more about the secondary characters in it then usual.
1. New Girl at the Palace

Disclaimer: None of the original characters from the POTS series are mine, however, Aziala, the man at arms and anyone that isn't Tamora Pierce's is mine. Also, the plot belongs to me, so please don't steal it.

Author's note: This story starts at the beginning of Kel's second year as a page, I'll try to keep most of the major events that happened, but I'll have to change some of them.

"Indicates speech"

'Indicates thought'

Chapter 1: New girl at the palace

Aziala tugged on the long sleeves of her dress and sighed. "Do I really have to wear this" She complained, glaring at the mint green fabric.

"Your grandmother had it made just for today, think how disappointed she would be if you didn't wear it." Her man-at-arms said.

"Can't I even change it a little" She pleaded.

"Absolutely not."

"But I look like a weed and the hideous color makes my face look flushed." She said.

"Young lady, you told your grandmother you loved it when she showed it to you, and you **will **wear it."

The carriage they were in was slowing down. "That was a courtier's reply." Aziala said contemptuously, flicking a strand of her reddish brown hair out of her eyes. She felt the carriage stop completely. "Thank you for accompanying me, but I will be able to continue alone from here, you may go and prepare the rooms." Her voice was slightly more aloof for the benefit of any public that might be listening.

"As you wish, milady." Her man-at-arms replied. A footman came to help her out of the carriage, and then she heard it drive away.

Looking around, Aziala was relieved to see that the courtyard was completely empty, the dress was truly ghastly.

She elegantly mad her way up to the front entrance of the imperial palace and knocked lightly. 'Now for the dress.' She thought to herself.

Closing her eyes the girl breathed deeply, shimmering multicolored lights danced inside her eyelids.

A palace servant opened the door, startling the girl from her light trance.

The ugly, shapeless mint green dress was gone; in its place was a forest green silk gown, with two narrow sleeves, and a fitted bodice until right below her hips, where it fell to elegant folds by her ankles.

She smiled prettily at the serving man and swept past him.

A maid showed Aziala to the dining room where she would be eating most of her meals. Over the door were the royal insignia and a sign that read _Pages and Squires mess hall. _

Aziala politely dismissed the maid, then pushing stray strands of hair out of her eyes and tugging lightly at her dress she took a deep breath and slowly opened the door.

There were several long tables, many of which were already occupied by boys. The country of Tortall permitted girls to train for there shields, but as far as she knew only one was currently training as a page. It seemed she hadn't arrived yet.

A few curious faces turned towards Aziala, just then a door opened and a small group of boys and one girl hurried past Aziala, barely even noticing her.

Aziala watched the girl with interest; this must be Keladry of Mindelin, The door opened again and a middle aged man walked in, the boys all stood up and silence made its way around the room.

"Lady Aziala?" The man asked in a low voice, bowing slightly and offering her his arm.

Aziala inclined her head gracefully and allowed him to escort her to the raised table at the end of the room. As she settled herself in her chair she noticed many of the boys were staring at her, pleased by the attention she sat up a little straighter and ran a hand through her loose curls.

"I would like to present to you all the Lady Aziala Di Turquaintine; she will be training with us for at least a year." Lord Wyldon of Cavall announced to his pages. Aziala stood up and curtseyed elegantly before the room. Many of the boys returned it with a small bow, several of which were very clumsy. Aziala pressed the back of her hand to her mouth to avoid laughing.

Lord Wyldon started talking again, and Aziala quickly realized he was praying to the gods to thank them for their food. When Lord Wyldon had finished his grace they all sat down.

"One of the senior pages will show you around the palace and teach you the rules if conduct. You will obey these rules or you will be punished. You will never fight with another page or squire. If you are in a room with a boy the door will be left open, the same if a boy is in your room. I will not tolerate flirtations. You will listen to and show respect for your training masters and teachers, do I make myself clear?" Lord Wyldon said in a slightly hard voice.

Startled at first by the sudden berating Aziala quickly composed herself and nodded.

"Very well, do you have a servant?"

This time preparing herself for another speech Aziala answered him. "Yes milord."

Instead of scolding her about discipline, all the training master did was nod curtly. "Very well."

A little confused Aziala picked up her fork and began eating. She was very hungry from her trip and was soon finished. She put her utensils on the plate and allowed the senior page that was waiting on her to take it away with a small smile of thanks. Then she demurely folded her hands on her lap and waited for Lord Wyldon to finish eating.

Fidgeting a little, she wasn't used to the silence, Aziala observed all the other pages who were laughing and talking.

The training master dismissed his pages soon after. As Aziala was preparing to leave he stopped her.

"Just a moment, Lady Aziala, before you go, do you have any questions?" He asked.

"Actually milord, I was wondering if I could sit with some of the pages tomorrow?" Aziala asked.

Lord Wyldon almost smiled; "Certainly, you may sit wherever you want whenever you want."

Curtseying, Aziala walked away.

Aziala was wandering down the corridor looking for a servant of someone to tell her where her room was when a boy with jet black hair walked up to her. With eyes the cool sapphire blue of his father's and hair that could have come form either of his parents, Aziala recognized Prince Roald, the heir to the Tortallan throne.

She wept an elegant curtsey which the prince returned with a small bow.

"Roald of Conté at your service, lady." He said.

"Aziala Di Turquaintine, charmed I'm sure." She answered.

"You seem lost, is there anything I can help you with?" He offered.

"Well, I am a little confused as to how to get to my room," Aziala said, "And I would be very obliged if you would introduce me to some of your friends." She added, smiling sweetly and fluttering her long eyelashes.

The prince laughed at her boldness. "Follow me," he said, leading her down the hallway.

Soon they arrived at a room in the pages wing. Roald entered with Aziala right behind him. Inside was a large group of boys. "Allow me to introduce you to Seaver of Tasride," Roald said, pointing to a boy with dark skin and hair that looked like he might have some Bazhir ancestry, "Nealan of Queenscove," A tall boy with brown hair that looked to old to be a page smiled and waved, "Cleon of Kennen," a tall redhead nodded slightly, "Faleron of King's Reach." A dark, handsome boy smiled at her and went back to the letter he was writing, "Merric of Hollyrose," a shortish boy with red hair and freckles grinned at them, "The page I'm sponsoring, Owen of Jesslaw," a short plump boy with brown hair smiled shyly, "And last, but not least, Keladry of Mindelin." The only girl that was training to be a knight raised a hand in greeting, her hazel eyes and face yamani blank.

"Everyone, this is Aziala Di Turquaintine." The Prince announced.

"Please, just call me Azi." She said with a smile.

END OF CHAPTER 1

AN: Okay, so I've had this idea stuck in my head for like, ever and I haven't been able to actually write it down yet. Also, I am missing a major conflict at the moment, so if anyone reviews and could sagest one it would help, until then I have a couple of minor conflicts to keep the story going.


	2. Yamani Calm

Disclaimer: None of the characters in this story that don't belong to me are mine, every one that is mine belongs to me, the same is true for any places or events in this story.

Authors Note: Okay, well… first of all I would like to thank those people who reviewed; it makes me feel like my life isn't just a complete waste of time. Secondly I would also like to thank those reviewers who gave me plot suggestions; they are all pretty much the same so I might be able to use them all. Other then that, Well, if I have anything else to say I will post it at the bottom.

The Gods Gifts, Chapter 2: Yamani Calm

Kel woke up to the soft cheeping of birds. The sparrows she had fed last year were now sitting on perches all over her room. Crown, the head sparrow, sat on Kel's chest, she peeped when she saw that Kel was awake.

Groaning Kel rolled out of her bed. She yawned and stretched before she filled up the food dish she had bought last year with birdseed. The birds all fluttered towards where the dish lay on the table. Kel shook her head to clear her mind and then stepped towards the middle of her room.

She picked up her practice glaive and began the swings and turns of a pattern dance. She finished and hung her glaive on the hooks on the wall. Then she did ten of the floor pushups the Shang Wildcat had shown her last year.

When she was finished she grabbed her clothes and slipped into her privy chamber to change and get ready for the day.

Kel arrived at breakfast that morning to see that most of her friends had already sat down and were talking amongst themselves. As she walked over to get a tray with food on it, she noticed to her irritation that Azi was also at the table, and was laughing sweetly at something Neal had said. She tilted her head to the side and smiled, only to have her attention redirected by one of the other boys.

Kel felt anger swelling inside her and she had absolutely no idea why. _Calm, _she thought to herself, _as smooth as a lake on a windless day. _She managed to keep her emotions under control. Grabbing her food she went to sit down at the table.

"Good morning," She said, smiling a fake, cheerful smile.

"'Mornin'." Neal said, lifting an eyebrow at her false good humor. "How in Mithros' name are you this wide awake?" He asked.

Azi laughed, and smiled at Kel. "Good morning." She said.

_Gods, why does this girl bother me so much? _Kel thought to herself. _I haven't even really met her yet. _Determined to keep up her charade, Kel smiled back ever so slightly.

"Hey Kel, Neal just had an amazingly unstupid idea," Cleon said, ducking the roll Neal threw at his head, "Anyway, so, since you're not already sponsoring someone, maybe you could show Aziala around the palace." He continued, undeterred.

"Um, I'm no so-" Kel began,

"Please, I would like it very much." Azi said in a cute little voice, her eyes pleading.

_I am going to regret this, I just know it… _"Sure, why not." Kel said with an inward sigh.

Azi's face brightened. "Oh, thank you so much," she said.

"Yeah, no problem." Kel said, as the thought of spending the whole day with a girl she couldn't stand took over.

Kel spent the morning showing the other girl all of the marvels of the Tortallan palace. As Azi exclaimed over each one, Kel grew more and more annoyed. She didn't know why but she had the feeling the awe in this girl's voice was fake and merely for the purpose of making Kel feel proud of her country.

_This girl is a born diplomat. _Kel thought, _If I hadn't spent those years in the Yamani islands I would almost be fooled by it._

She led Azi to the hall which boasted all the portraits of the royal family throughout the history of Tortall. Unlike Neal, who would have been able to tell a story of each of the monarchs, recent and long dead, Kel just leaned against a pillar and let the other girl explore on her own.

She watched bored as the girl chattered away to some of the court ladies that were walking in the hall. Watching them made Kel think, _She seems to fit in so well with those girls, I wonder what would make her want to be a warrior? _Kel conveniently forgot how well she fit in with the boys as well.

Eventually Azi waved goodbye to her new friends and came back towards Kel.

"Done already?" Kel asked, her face impassive.

"You can only take so much history for one day. Will you show me the training courts?" Azi said.

"Speaking of that, we should probably get you some training clothes and a uniform." Kel said.

"No, really, it's okay, I already have them." Azi said.

Kel raised an eyebrow but just shrugged.

She led the other girl towards the training courts. After showing her the hard packed dirt enclosures where the pages learned weapons and hand to hand combat she took her to the archery wing and then up to the stables. "Just a second." Kel said, walking inside to say hello to her gelding, Peachblossom.

Aziala followed Kel down the aisle, looking at the different horses as she went. Near the end she found a stall with a gorgeous black mare in it, the only mark on her was a sun shaped blotch on her forehead.

"Hello Teriugei." Azi said. The mare snorted and moved to the front of the stall. Looking over Kel decided that this was probably Azi's horse, or else she had some kind of horse magic.

Kel shrugged and patted Peachblossom on the nose, and then gently finger combed his forelock. Aziala turned around.

"Umm, Kel, can I ask you a slightly personal question?" She said.

"If you want." Kel answered, staring into Azi's green eyes, even though she was almost a year older, Azi was barely an inch taller then Kel.

"I was wondering if you liked Neal." She said.

"He's my best friend, of course I like him." Kel answered.

"No, I mean really like him."

Anger was building inside, trying to force it down Kel asked as calmly as she could, "What gives you that idea?"

"Well, It's just that every time he talks to me or even looks at me you seem angry enough to try to kill me with bare hands, and whenever he talks to you, you practically swoon. I have lived next to Yamani's my whole life, and compared to them, you're as easy to read as a book."

Kel snapped, she didn't know why, she just did. "What is your problem, you just waltz in here and have everyone wrapped around your little finger and then you get involved in other people's personal life, do you have any respect?" Kel didn't realize she was almost creaming, unfortunately, Aziala's temper flared very quickly.

"What's **my **problem? You're the one who can't stand not being the center of attention anymore, so you won't even talk to anyone who threatens to take that away from you. Your so jealous, it's like you won't let anyone else talk to your friends. You have been nothing but rude to me ever since I got here, and I've been trying to be nice, but I can't take it anymore. I'm leaving, good bye." After this outburst, Aziala spun on her heel and walked away.

"See if I care." Kel called after her.

End of Chapter 2

AN: Okay, so I know I haven't really explained where Aziala comes from yet, but I'll get around to it, probably next chapter. Also, the next chappys will probably have more of other characters in them, any way, please RR.


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